Training and Programming

We are intentionally providing trainings, bringing in speakers, and looking for opportunities to sponsor conferences and events that encourage, promote, and demonstrate our commitment to inclusive excellence.

  • Co-sponsored an interactive engagement of The Defamation Experience on the UNL East Campus in partnership with the University of Nebraska Diversity Officers Collaborative and UNL’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion (September 25, 2019).
  • CASNR’s Cultivate Access team has organized groups of faculty, students and staff to discuss the book The Person You Mean to Be, by Dolly Chugh, over the Summer 2021.
  • CASNR is sponsoring a 6-week discussion series during the Summer 2021 titled The Urgency of Inclusive Classrooms for faculty, students and staff.
  • In May 2021 the Extension leadership team participated in Navigating Difference training and took the Intercultural Development Inventory. Over the Summer 2021, each member of the leadership team is developing their own IDI-informed plan for increasing intercultural development.
  • Hosted a Table Talk by Inclusive Communities May 21, 2019
  • CASNR’s 2020 Winter Teaching and Learning Symposium featured Dr. Kevin Gannon, Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Grand View University (Des Moines, IA) to present about The Theory and Practice of Inclusive Teaching.
  • Ouch! Training, workshops that raise awareness of gender and identity issues, Navigating Difference, and other trainings are readily available on campus. Unit and group leaders regularly schedule these trainings for their faculty and staff.
  • IANR units are encouraged to participate in and schedule workshops to raise awareness of gender and identity issues in teaching and learning offered through the UNL Women’s Center  and UNL LGBTQA+ Center.

External speakers, film screenings, and workshops are scheduled to raise awareness and to develop skills and strategies for creating a more inclusive workplace. 2020-2021 academic year speakers and events include the following:

  • February 23-25, 2021 screening of the film Picture a Scientist and panel discussion, followed by facilitated discussions of sexual and gender harassment in the STEM fields.
  • CASNR’s 2020 Winter Teaching and Learning Symposium featured Dr. Kevin Gannon, Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Grand View University (Des Moines, IA) to present about The Theory and Practice of Inclusive Teaching.
  • Nebraska Extension’s Fall Conference featured Carlos Barcenas, a noted speaker on diversity and inclusion, to provide a general session about bias and inclusive excellence.
  • Fall 2020 screening of the documentary Hearts of Glass, a film exploring food technology, sustainability, and diversity and inclusion and hosted a panel discussion with the producer, employees of Vertical Harvest and experts from among UNL faculty.
  • CASNR is a co-sponsor of We Are Nebraska, an improvisational theater production (directed by Julie Uribe) of the Hixon-Lied School of Performing Arts designed to increase exposure to the diversity that exists among UNL students.

IANR sponsors organizations and attendance at conferences that address DEI issues. Examples include the following:

  • CASNR supports a chapter of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) (received approval as a UNL student organization in Fall 2020). 
  • Since 2019, IANR has partnered with CASNR to sponsor four CASNR students to participate in the annual Cultivating Change Conference. The mission of the Cultivating Change Conference and Foundation is to “value and elevate LGBTQ agriculturalists through advocacy, education, and community.”
  • IANR is a sponsorship-partner with ORED and OAA for the UNL chapter of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS).

Advisory groups and councils have been formed to encourage and promote DEI programming and initiatives.

  • A DEI Advisory Group to the IANR senior leadership team charged with becoming familiar with IANR initiatives and activities and advising the Vice Chancellor, Associate Vice Chancellors, and deans on issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belongingness. (since November 2020)
  • IANR Staff Council charge of the council is to advocate for issues impacting staff, advise IANR administration on staff issues, and encourage and organize professional development for staff. Professional development will include training on the role of explicit and implicit bias and on how to nurture an inclusive workplace and an inclusive excellence mindset. (since May 2020)
  • Faculty advisory groups exist within colleges, divisions and academic units. Examples include: